The diagonal of a 27-inch television measure 27 inches. If the width of a 27-inch is 22 inches, caculate its height to the nearest inch.

Question

The question is related to Pythagorean Theorem

Answer 1

The Pythagorean theorem is a^2 + b^2 = c^2 where a and b are the height and base of a right triangle and c is the diagonal.

 

You have 22^2 + b^2 = 27^2 since the base and diagonal are given

 

484 + b^2 = 729 then subtract 484 from both sides.

 

484 - 484 + b^2 = 729 - 484

b^2 = 245 then take the square root of both sides

b = 15.6525 rounded to four decimal places.

The answer is 16 inches rounded to the nearest inch.

 

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Answer 2

Tony, draw a picture of your TV and you'll see that the diagonal cuts your TV into two right triangles.

 

(Ever wonder why the formula for the area of a triangle is 1/2 base x height? It's because we find area of a rectangle using length x width and a triangle is half a rectangle)

 

22² + b² = 27²

484 + b² = 729

b² = 245

b = √245 = 15.7

 

The height is 16 inches.

 

Hope this helps!